Actions speak louder than words…

November 22nd, 20129:11 am

Michael Baron , Contributor

I remain very optimistic the Mets will eventually agree to a new contract with David Wright. While I do want them to extend R.A. Dickey’s contract as well, I haven’t been as optimistic because it makes a lot of baseball sense to try and sell high on him now and fill other holes on the roster.

I do have some worry now, though. And I wasn’t comforted by Jeff Wilpon’s comments on Tuesday. Each day that goes by, with no reports of progression, the more I find myself questioning the situation and fearing the worst. It’s not to say I think Wright will be traded this winter, but rumors will undoubtedly be flying if they don’t have a deal by the Winter Meetings… and even the thought of that makes me cringe.

In talking with fans over the last day or so, I think most people feel the same way: they are hoping both Wright and Dickey remain with the team, but certainly have fears the Mets can’t get these deals done; don’t want to get them done; or both. It’s like we’re
collectively saying, “I’ll believe it when I see it,” and I think that is fair given what has happened with the organization recently.

Regardless of what is true, what is not, and what is happening behind closed doors with Wright and Dickey – even if there is actually positive progression in each of their situations that we are not aware of – perception remains a big problem for this organization to overcome. Even though a majority of MetsBlog readers believe the Mets are on the right track, cynicism remains, a fear they will do the wrong thing remains, and this loud anger remains. Winning goes a long way to fix those problems, but there needs to be some physical sign the Mets have turned a corner, and it’s fair to believe they haven’t shown that to date.

The Mets need to begin changing this perception, tone and conversation about the team and show fans and MLB they have the ability and desire to invest in the big league roster. I’m not advocating they invest haphazardly in crappy free agents and I don’t believe spending directly equates to winning (the Mets being the prime example of that). But the Mets can show a lot to everyone (including Wright and Dickey) simply by making longer term investments in Wright and Dickey now. Both Sandy Alderson and ownership have been very public in their desire to retain these guys, but actions speak louder than words. Until they do that, these issues among the fans will continue, and it will get harder and harder to change that perception…